


Whatever Happens (It's for a reason)

by DarkMountains



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU, Abandonment, Brief Underage Themes, Creepy stuff, Cryptic Themes, Demons, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/F, Human!Bill, M/M, Monsters, Murder, Mystery, Oral Sex, Sex, Violence, break-ups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-01 23:46:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5225786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMountains/pseuds/DarkMountains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four months after Dipper and Bill break-up, Bill mysteriously vanishes. Dipper wants to not care and does a good job of it until a month later, a box containing a human eyeball is found in the woods. Along with a note saying it's owner is dead. The owner being one Bill Cipher.<br/>Dipper knows there's more to the story and he's going to find out just how much more there is. Even if he ends up in the same place as Bill. Where ever that might be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where He Went

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, friendos. I've been working on this story for awhile and it's def nowhere close to finished, but I hope you enjoy this first chapter.

The news makes headlines. " **Human eye discovered by hiker in the woods alongside a cryptic note**." It's everywhere and to Dipper Pines, it was no more then another tragic story. Well, at least it was. That is until the eye's owner was identified. Twenty-five year old Bill Cipher. Dipper's ex-boyfriend. Who had gone missing four months prior. When the name rings out from his television, Dipper feels a strange disconnect. Like Bill's name shorted out his brain somehow. Then the pieces start clicking into place and there is a sick feeling in Dipper's stomach. Sooner then he can stop it, his breakfast makes a surprise, second appearance in his kitchen sink.

Dipper wasn't even sure how long he was standing there, staring out of his little kitchen window, but his phone ringing snapped him out of his stupor. All thoughts of Bill momentarily left his mind as he snatched his phone off the counter and answered without checking who it was.

"Dipper Pines." Was his clipped answer, a numb feeling washing over his body as he tried to regain some composure.

"Dipper! Hey, where are you?" Mabel's concerned voice came through the small speaker, helping to bring Dipper some what back to his senses.

"Uh, just at my place." Dipper cleared his throat a bit, thinking he sounded a bit off. "Why?"

There was a short silence on the other end, "You been watching the news, huh?"

Dipper closed his eyes, nodding before realizing Mabel couldn't see him. He made a strange noise, that sounded a bit like 'yeah'.

"Oh, Dipper." Something in Mabel's voice just broke the flood gates.

He crumbled to the floor, leaning against the cabinets with a strangled sob. It was like a kick in the stomach, to be crying over Bill again. Dipper was sure he'd had enough of that in his life and was confident that he'd never have to cry over him again. Although, this was for a whole different situation, to be fair. That didn't stop it from feeling just like he did after the two of them split. They had been dating for just over four years when they broke it off. Dipper was sure he and Bill were going to be together for a long time and with each year that passed, he became a little more sure of it. After the break up, Dipper was pretty wrecked. There were a lot of sleepless nights. Dipper had a feeling that there were about to be a lot more.

When news spread that Bill had gone missing, Dipper did everything in his power to not care. He was doing a damn good job of it too. They were broken up and there was no reason for Dipper to even care anymore. That is until just now. Even a blind man could see Dipper was still a fool for Bill. Probably was always going to be. He stayed curled up against the kitchen cabinets for a long while. Or at least however long it took Mabel to drive from her place to his. Which was about twenty minutes. When Mabel arrived, she was still on the phone, only hanging up when she found Dipper on the kitchen floor. After Mabel turned the t.v off, she helped Dipper move to the couch and sat beside him, patting his shoulder as he tried to regained his composure. It was at least a good hour before either of them spoke. The first to break the silence being Dipper.

"Turn it back on. I want to know what happened." Dipper looked over to Mabel, who was holding the remote in her hand still.

"Dipper, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Maybe we should just wait and see what happens. It could be a different person all together for all we know! I really thi-" Mabel was cut off by a sharp knock at the door. The twins glanced at each other before Mabel got up to see who it was, Dipper following behind her. She glanced out of the peephole and drooped upon seeing the two familiar faces of officers Blubs and Durland on the other side of the door. There was no wondering what they were here for. The last time they were here it was to question Dipper about Bill's disappearance. With a solemn sigh, Mabel opened the door, looking over at Dipper watching his face go from broken to composed in a second.

"Hello officers. What can I do for you?" Dipper sounding polite and stepping forward.

"Mr. Pines?" Blubs stepped forward, "I assume you know what we're here about."

Dipper cleared his throat, giving an affirmative nod.

"Why don't the two of you come inside?" Mabel suggested, opening the door more and stepping aside. The officers obliged, entered the apartment, lead by Mabel to the small kitchen table. She gestured for them to have a seat at the table. Dipper was following behind the trio and took a seat next to to Mabel on the other end of the table. There was a short, awkward silence before Sheriff Blubs spoke up.

"So we know that you and William Cipher used to be connected. We're also aware that you broke up long before he disappeared. Right now, we're just coming up with a bunch of dead ends. Are you sure that you have no clue about what could have happened to him?" The rotund man questioned.

"No. I don't have any idea." Dipper sounded surprisingly calm. Mabel knew better then that though, she continued to watch him carefully as he spoke.

"Remind me, did you have any contact with Mr. Cipher after the two of you split?" Officer Blubs followed up, raising an eyebrow.

"We spoke once after we broke up. We exchanged all the stuff we left at each others houses about a week after we called it quits. That was the last time I ever saw him in person." There was a slight catch in Dipper's voice. The thought of the last time he saw Bill. The last time he ever would, now that he thought about it... It was strange. At that time, the only thing Dipper felt for Bill was contempt. Even as Bill wore that look that always made Dipper cave. Bill was apologizing the entire time, even though Dipper barely spoke to him at all.

"Do you have any idea of where he might have gone? Or anyone that might have wanted to hurt him?" The other officer, Durland, if Dipper remember correctly, asked. "Um, no. I mean, there are plenty of places that he could have gone if he just left, but I can't think of anywhere in particular that he would have gone to. As for people that might have wanted to hurt him... Well, let's just say that Bill got into a lot of trouble with a lot of people. He definitely had quite a few people that were lining up to take a swing at him, but I don't think anyone would go and...you know...kill him." Dipper thought of the places Bill used to take him. Up into the hills and into the forest. He remembered that road trip Bill took him on all across Oregon. There wasn't any reason for Dipper to lie to the officers, but those places were ones that he wanted to keep secret. Even if he had no reason to.

Both of the officers jotted down notes. There was a slight pause before officer Blubs looked up at Dipper.

"Now, I have a picture here with me. Since Mr. Cipher has no family that we know of and almost none of the people that know him can be reliably contacted, we were curious if you would help in identifying the photo." There was a churning feeling in Dipper's stomach and he was suddenly glad he already threw up earlier. What kind of picture where they going to show him? He had a feeling that he already knew.

"With your permission, we'd like to show you a picture of what is believed to be Mr. Cipher's eye."The officer set the picture face down on the table and looked at Dipper, who was starting to look pale.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Mabel finally spoke up, placing a gentle hand on Dipper's back.

"No. I want to help." Dipper snatched up the picture faster then Mabel could stop him. The color was distinctive. A strange hazel-yellow-brown-ish color. If that made any sense. There was really no other indication of the eye belonging to any person in particular, aside from the color. A color that looked so familiar to Dipper. He set the picture down almost as quickly as he picked it up. Mabel and the officers stared at Dipper, who had his eyes closed, taking steady breathes. The tension was suffocating and was getting to be a bit unbearable until Dipper let out a steady puff of air.

"I...I guess it could be his, but I can't be sure. There's not really any other way to tell." Dipper cleared his throat, pushing the picture back to the officers. "It's the same color. That's all I can really say for sure." Blubs took the picture placing it back in the file, writing down a few more notes before standing, everyone else at the table following his lead.

Dipper made his way around to the other side of the table, walking the officer's to the door, this time Mabel was the one shuffling behind. "Thank you for your cooperation. If you think of anything else that might help us find who did this, please give us a call." Durland and Blubs both offered Dipper their cards and they shook hands before departing. Closing the door behind them, Dipper turned let out a long sigh.

"You okay bro?" Mable asked, knowing that he wasn't okay, even when he nodded. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in tight hug. "Come over for dinner tonight. Pacifica is making Tuscan Chicken. It's super yummy."

Dipper thought about it for a second, knowing it would be hard to refuse the offer, Mabel was very persistent. Dipper could be too though and he really didn't think he was going to be able to sit through dinner without breaking down.

"I dunno Mabes. I'll think about. To be honest, I kind of just want to sleep for awhile, you know?" Dipper could feel the frown on Mabel's face against his shoulder, but he really wasn't feeling up for dinner.

"Okay." Mabel sighed, releasing her brother from the tight hug. Being surprisingly less pushy about coming then Dipper originally though she would be. "I'll bring some over for you later though."

With a nod, Dipper pushed himself away from the door, "Okay, that sounds good to me."

"Do you want me to stay? You know I don't mind and I don't have anything to do today anyway." Mabel smiled, although it wasn't her normal bright, happy smile.

"I really appreciate the offer Mabel, but I kind of just want to be alone for awhile. I have some things I need to think about." It always made Dipper feel bad when he refused Mabel's comfort, but he was really more of a suffer in silence type and preferred to be alone when there were problems going on in his life. Much to Mabel's distress. Anyone would be able to tell that Mabel was unwilling to leave her brother in such a delicate state, but after twenty years of life with Dipper, she knew that there was really no point in trying to stay. He'd end up locked in his room or the bathroom anyway.

"Alright. If you need anything, call." Mabel hugged her brother again, "And I'll check in on you later." She assured him, "So you better answer your phone. I'll call you when I'm coming to bring the food by too."

"Sounds good, sis." Dipper tried his best to look at least some what alright, even if it was pointless to try to put on a mask for his sister. She always knew what was up.

"See you later Dip. Love you." Mabel pulled her keys out of her pocket and hugged Dipper one last time before heading out the door.

"Love you too." Dipper called after her, not closing the door until she was driving down the street.

 

**-Two weeks later-**

 

Since there was no body, there was no funeral, but Dipper mourned just the same. Although, he only did so in private. It's not like he wanted people to know that he was mourning his ex-boyfriend. It was weird. What was weirder, in Dipper's opinion, was that Bill had requested that in case of any sort of emergency, Dipper was to decide what to do with all of his things. Which was why Dipper was currently at Bill's old apartment with Mabel, clearing things out and packing everything up. He decided to store all the important stuff; letter's, documents, books, and a few little keepsakes in his extra room at the apartment. Everything else, was going to be put into a storage unit that Pacifica had offered Dipper to use.

It was quite a task to go through everything and Dipper was proud of how well he was holding up despite how bad he wanted to just leave and never set foot in this place again. With wary footsteps, Dipper walked to Bill's room. A mostly empty box and packing tape in hand. Most of the big stuff was already moved out, but Bill's desk was still in his room. The bookshelf and bed were gone and the books had been placed in boxes that were already loaded in Mabel's car. Walking over to the desk, he ran his hand along the dust covered surface. With a sigh he opened one of the drawers. Inside was an array of pens, pencils, and other office supplies, haphazardly stuffed into the drawer. Dipper rolled his eyes at the disorganization.

There were three other drawers, two filled with scraps of paper with hastily scrawled notes and random kick-knacks. The third drawer had a wooden box, a bit bigger then the size of an envelope. Dipper removed the box and underneath it were some stamps, letter opener and a few stray envelopes. The box and a small clasp on the front and small carvings along the side. Dipper examined the box for a couple of seconds before opening it up. It was filled with a bunch of letters and Dipper raised an eyebrow at the one on top, marked with his name an address. He almost resisted the urge to open the letter and read it right there. Almost. The envelope wasn't sealed, so he just pulled the folded piece of paper out and began reading.

_Dear Dipper,_

_It's strange to think about what we used to be. I dream about you still. I think I always will. You and I both know that we left on less then good terms and I know now that it really was my fault. Too little too late, I guess. I wish I could fix what happened before everything changed. I can't do anything now and that's probably why I am the way that I am. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm still doing here. I really thought I would have moved on by now. Maybe you're what's keeping me back. I guess it could just be me though. It almost always is. At least according to you. I hated feeling trapped. You know that better then anyone. I know now, that I was never trapped with you. Maybe I was scared of making a commitment. It was something you knew from the get-go wasn't really my thing. I guess we both kind of forgot that somewhere along the line. Well, at least up until just before it ended. I don't mean to sound bitter, but there's no fooling you anyway, so it doesn't matter if you know just how bitter I am or not. I really can only hope that you take this half-assed, terribly written apology. You deserve more then a measly letter, but it's all I can do. I can almost see you rolling your eyes at my 'apology'. Never was great at them. You know that. You know a lot about me. More then basically anyone. You have no idea how bad I wish you didn't. Maybe it would make it easier for me to just forget everything about you. It's like I just have all this information about you that I have nothing to do with anymore. Your birthday, your favorite color, all your little quirks and peeves. I used to swear up and down that I'd never be one of those guys. Yet, here I am, writing this stupid letter because I can't get you off my mind. I guess one day I'll forget, but for now, I'm thinking about you. I'm thinking of sending you this letter. I'm also thinking that I'll end up just leaving it with the rest of the letters I never sent. I miss you, Dipper. I really do. Sorry for everything._

_Bill Cipher_

 

Tears dropped onto the paper in Dipper's hands. He sniffed a little and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, preventing anymore tears from messing up the paper. There were quite a few more letters, some in envelopes others just folded up. There was no way Dipper was going to try to read anymore of them right now. He just grabbed the box tossed it into the empty one he had brought with him and closed it up with tape, pulling a sharpie from his pocket and writing 'Bill' quickly across the top. He sat at the desk for a minute longer before leaving the room, box in hand.

Mabel was waiting by the car, some big boxes sitting on the ground by the car, probably too heavy for her to lift on her own. Dipper set the small box of letters on the passenger seat before moving to load the rest of the boxes in the car. Mabel gave Dipper a pat on the back, helping out with a few particularly heavy boxes. She knew better then to ask about how he was. She already knew anyway. The drive back to Dipper's apartment was mostly silent. It felt like the whole world knew what Dipper was going through and decided to quiet down just for him. Dipper was still unclear on whether or not he was grateful for it. When the car pulled in front of Dipper's apartment building, he let out a sigh.

"Thanks for driving me, Mabes." Dipper clutched the box of letters in his lap, looking out the window towards his apartment.

"You know, you can always stay with me a Pacifica for a few days if you want." Mabel really hoped he would agree to it, but knew that the answer was already no. "It's okay. I'll be fine." Dipper assured, giving a small smile. Which, in all honesty, wasn't very reassuring. Mabel helped him move the boxes into his spare room/office. She lingered around for about an hour before a call from Pacifica had her on her way out.

"Promise to call if you change your mind?" The worry and concern in Mabel's voice mirrored the way their mom used to sound whenever she would drop either of them off by themselves.

"I promise Mabel. I'll see you later." After receiving a hug, Mabel was on her way home and Dipper was on his way to a break down.

Walking back to the office, he ripped open the box he'd written Bill's name across and pulled out the small wood box. He spent a long time staring at it, tracing the patterns along the sides with a finger. It was probably close to twenty minutes before Dipper opened the box and began going through the letters. Most of them were to him and every single one that was for him made him cry harder then the last. There were two letters in the box that weren't address to him. One was to addressed to his great uncle Stanford for whatever reason. The other was unmarked. Dipper considered reading the one addressed to his uncle, but decided not to, because it was sealed and if it was something his uncle needed to read, he didn't want him to know that he had opened it.

The other letter was fair game though. How was he supposed to know who it was for? It could be for him and if it was for someone else, he'd just say the truth. Nothing about the letter was unusual, so Dipper couldn't really explain why he felt so uneasy when he opened the letter. Maybe it was because he didn't really know who it was for and it felt a bit like snooping. That had to be it. I just seemed...different some how. Brushing off the strange feeling, Dipper began to read the letter.

_11/03/2015_

_Well well well. I guess you were right about one thing. Too bad it didn't even go remotely the way you hoped it would. You see, I knew what you wanted the whole time and I knew that you would stop at nothing to make it happen. So instead of fighting it, I fell right into your 'trap'. There's really no use in explaining it, because the events that set everything in motion are soon to come and I really don't want to ruin the surprise for you. You know, I really had hoped things would go differently for us. The heart wants what it can't have, huh? Well, at least your heart can't have it. Too bad for you. Catch you later._

_Bill Cipher_

Dipper re-read the letter a few times, trying to make sense of what it meant and who it might have been for. Something about this letter made him think there was something important he was definitely missing. Not to mention that the letter is dated two days before his eye was found in the woods. This is definitely something he should turn into the police. For some reason though, there was something in the back of his mind telling him to wait. Maybe it was because he wanted to find closure and figuring out this mystery would help him at least know what happened. It could also just simply be a distraction or maybe a little bit of guilt, driving him to solve this puzzle. Whatever it was, it sparked something in Dipper that he hadn't experience in awhile. Curiosity.

For years and years, ever since he was a kid and first came to Gravity Fall to visit Grunkle Stan, he was suspicious of this town. Of course no one ever believed him. In fact, Bill used to tease him the most when he would talk about anything supernatural. Despite what everyone said, Dipper knew the truth. So did Mabel and he knows at least one of his uncle's believed him. Bill always thought he was dumb for believing it, even though he used to indulge him and go on monster hunts with him. Dipper noticed that he always seemed to disappear whenever things starting getting weird. It was always just his luck that Bill seemed to miss the strange happenings. It never really bothered him though, it was just another thing that was a little quirk in their relationship. There were quite a lot of those.

As Dipper sat there, surrounded by all of Bill's letter's, he started to wonder about how he disappeared. He started to think about what really happened. Where Bill really went. The more he thought, the more it seemed to not make sense. True, he had never kept up with the case, because he was really just trying to get over him and it wasn't exactly weird for Bill to just run off for a few days, doing god knows what. He did it all the time before Dipper and him even got together. There were even a couple of time Bill ran off when they were together. It drove Dipper insane. Dipper sat there for a long while, thinking about what could have happened when he decided that he should read the news about what happened. See if he can read the reports. He was pretty good at getting into the police database. Thanks to his great uncle Stan's aversion to the law.

A few hours later Dipper was basically the head of the case, he knew all of the information the police had and then some. He knew the places Bill liked to hang out. He knew his friends from before and after they started dating. He knew all the right questions to ask and who to ask them to. Maybe Dipper shouldn't be getting involved in this investigation, considering that it was still on going. The police usually knew what they were doing and he could get into a lot of trouble for interfering. At least he would if he got caught. Which he was fairly certain he wouldn't. Besides, if Dipper didn't help then how would the police know where to look? Sure, he cold just tell them, but most of the people Bill hung around with weren't exactly police friendly. Dipper had to do something. Even if Bill wasn't really anything more to him then a memory now, it wasn't right to just let things be. There were a lot of unresolved problems Between them.

Dipper walked from where his laptop was resting on the kitchen counter, back to the spare room with Bill's stuff in it. Maybe there was some kind of clue... Snatching the letter's off the ground, Dipper began to look them over, Bill always had a thing for secret messages and codes. He poured through the letter's searching for any kind of clue that Bill might have left. He tried every code and cipher he could thing of, but he kept coming up empty. Dipper was up for the better part of the night searching through Bill's things. Only stopping when Mabel called to check in on him. They talked for about an hour before Mabel told him to get some sleep, which he said he would (even though he didn't). Around four am, Dipper was about at the end of his rope. He had tried everything and he was really starting to get frustrated. He had all the letter's laid out on his kitchen table and was trying to see if they had some kind of message that only made sense when they were together. Dipper wasn't seeing anything though. "What could it be..." Dipper grumbled to himself, rearranging the letters again, hoping something would break through. He was just about ready to throw in the towel when he remembered something that he hadn't tried yet. Dipper all but ran to his room, searching for the black light he used when he wrote secret messages to Bill around the time they first started dating. Bill used to say it was stupid. That 'real' secret messages should have to be worked for, but he always went along with it anyway.

It was a long shot, but who knows, it could work. Dipper rushed back to the table and switched the black light on, facing the light towards the letters. A smile lit up Dipper's face when a hidden letters appeared on the papers. It took Dipper a few tries to put all the letters in order to read the message and when he did, he frowned.

_'Stop while you're ahead, Pine Tree. There's nothing you can do for me anymore.'_

"What the hell..." Furrowing his eyebrows together, he re-read the message, huffing a little. That sure sounded like Bill. Even in the way it irritated Dipper right down to his bones. Why the hell would Bill leave him a message like this? How did he even know that he would find it? In classic Dipper style, answering one question only had more taking it's place. At least Dipper knew he wasn't being crazy. There definitely something more going on here. Dipper was going to find out what it was.


	2. Someone's gotta know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter moves a little fast. I'm trying to work on pacing myself, but I'm not very good at it apparently. Anyway!I hope you enjoy this chapter!

What was just over a week felt like so much longer for Dipper. After finding that note that Bill left for him, Dipper went into an investigative frenzy. He went looking through everything. Searching up and down for any sort of clue about what happened to Bill. So far, Dipper just kept coming up with nothing. It was starting to become very irritating. This was Bill, after all. Dipper wouldn't expect anything less from him. 

  
There was only so much Dipper could do at this point and much to his frustration, he had to wait for a lead. Looking for one was a lot harder then he expected it to be. Bill's friends weren't exactly easy to get a hold of. Maybe that was for the best though. Bill's friends were a shady bunch and that was on good days. 

  
So for now, Dipper was pouring all of his effort into trying to decode more of Bill's letters. Seeing if maybe there was any kind of hints that he might have missed.   
At this point, Dipper had read every single letter a hundred times by now. Well, all except the one addressed to his Grunkle Ford. Now that he thought about it, it was very strange that there was a letter to his uncle. What reason did Bill have to write to him? 

  
Dipper knew that Bill and Ford knew each other before Dipper even met him, but he assumed it was because they both lived in Gravity Falls way before Dipper even came to visit. Ford wasn't exactly subtle in letting Dipper know that he didn't approve of Bill. At all. What so ever. He would never tell him why though. Dipper always thought it was because of Bill's trouble-making habits. Which Dipper could understand. He always did think there was something more to the story though. 

  
Bill never wanted to talk about how he met his great uncle either. Dipper only ever got vague, half-hearted answers from both of them. The more Dipper the thought about it, the more it started to seem like there was something that the two of them were hiding and the letter wasn't doing anything to put it suspicion at bay. Standing at his desk, where all the letters were placed across it's surface, Dipper stared at Ford's name written in Bill's writing. 

  
If there was nothing to hide, then reading the letter would mean nothing. If there was though...Well, Dipper would cross that bridge when he got to it.   
Snatching the letter off the desk, Dipper turned it over, examining the best way to open it without damaging the envelope. Maybe he could just open it and if it was important for Ford to read, he'd just tell him it was in an unmarked envelope. 

  
Then again, his uncle was really good at tell when he was lying. Not that Dipper was a good liar anyway. 

  
Letting out a steady breath Dipped tore the corner of the envelope, ready to find out just what was happening between Bill and Ford.   
Until a loud knock rang through his apartment, followed by the sounds of his family arguing about something.

   
As quickly as he was able, Dipper put away all of the letter from Bill, making sure the one for Ford was at the bottom of the box. After a minute of Dipper shuffling around, hiding any trace that he was looking for Bill, he went to answer the door. There was no way he was ready to tell his Uncle's and Mabel that he was on a crazy goose hunt for his ex. Stan would laugh at him and Ford would probably ring his neck. Mabel too. Then she would probably help. He still wasn't going to tell her though.

"Took you long enough! What were you doing? Hiding a body?" Stan's gruff voice cut through the silence of Dipper's apartment when he opened the door, rubbing his neck with an awkward laugh at his uncle's comment.

  
"At least he answer's the door, Stan. You just make Soos or someone else do it for you!" Ford walked through the door, ruffling Dipper's hair as he passed. Mabel was next, smiling brightly, followed by Soos who gave Dipper a fist bump by way of greeting.

  
"Hey, everyone." Dipper closed the door behind Soos, sighing at the surprise visitors. Not that they were unwelcome. Just...unexpected. 

  
Mabel wrapped an arm around Dipper's shoulders and leaned against him, smiling brightly, "We're all going for dinner! I know it's last minute, but I also know you have nothing better to do, so go get ready!" She kissed Dipper's cheek and bounded off into Dipper's living room with the others, leaving Dipper in an all too familiar exasperation. 

  
Knowing there wasn't really much of another choice, Dipper headed to his room to throw on some clean clothes and spray himself with something so he didn't smell like death walking. The entire time he was getting ready, he could hear everyone in the living room making a ruckus. They're probably the reason why his neighbor is always staring at him whenever they happen to cross paths. He probably thinks Dipper and his family and friends some sort of circus act. Not that he could blame him for the assumption.  
Once Dipper finished making himself look presentable, he looked in the mirror, checking himself over with a sigh. He shuffled into the living room, shoving one of his many hats on his head from the hat rack that Mabel got for him. 

  
"Alright, let's get this over with." Dipper huffed, seeming irritated. The smile on his face betrayed his voice though. It was hard to stay irritated when you had a bunch of clowns for a family. 

  
"Don't be a sourpuss, Dipper. You know you're excited to go out to eat with us." Mabel nudged Dipper with an elbow, smiling brightly. 

  
Dipper rolled his eyes in an endearing sort of way. Honestly, he was kind of glad to be getting out of the house. An entire week of staying in and doing nothing except think about Bill was starting to fray his nerves. Mabel probably sensed that he needed to get out. She always knew. Maybe it was a twin ESP thing. Either way, he was kind of grateful to be getting out. On the way out of the apartment, Ford stopped Dipper at the door, letting everyone pile in the car before them.

"Hey, you haven't been by all week. I was starting to think you fell of the grid there." Ford rested a hand on Dipper's shoulder, looking at him like he was expecting an answer.   
Dipper gave an awkward laugh, not about to tell Ford about his hunt for Bill, but not knowing what to tell him either.

"Just been having an off week I guess. I should've checked in. I guess I didn't really think about it. Sorry Ford." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the actual truth.

  
Ford looked a bit skeptical, but seemed to let it slide. There was no way he didn't know about what happened to Bill. Between the news and Mabel, he had to have heard something. So he must have guessed it was something to do with him. Not like Ford would ever ask and Dipper was never gonna tell. 

  
Dipper did think about that letter though. Maybe he should just give it to Ford. It's not like he didn't know where Ford kept all of his 'secret' things. Plus, if it wasn't something incriminating, maybe Ford would just let him see it. Dipper really hated doing the right thing sometimes. Despite how bad he wanted to read that letter, it was for Ford. He would be pissed if someone read one of his letter that Bill wrote. 

  
Ford walked out the door, motioning for Dipper to follow. Dipper grabbed his keys and locked the door behind him. He'd think about giving the letter to Ford over lunch. If he still thought Ford should get it, he'd give it to him after they got back. 

  
The drive to the diner was about fifteen minutes from Dipper's place. So the ride there was essentially fifteen long minutes of Dipper trying to talk over his uncle's bickering and Mabel and Soos singing loudly to the song playing on the radio. Arriving at their destination was like walking into an oasis for Dipper. Being in the car with his family wasn't exactly his idea of a great time. 

After they were seated they ordered drinks and talked among themselves. Dipper tried his best to participate, but his mind was elsewhere at the moment. They had been talking for about fifteen minutes when Dipper started tuning out, glancing out the window.

The gangly looking character walking along across the street went almost unnoticed by everyone, except for Dipper, who happened to catch sight of the man from his peripheral. Dipper wouldn't have even recognized the man if it weren't for the distinctive tattoos that he had on the sides of his neck. Eight Ball. One of Bill's shady friends. 

  
Usually, Dipper would just ignore him. It wasn't like it was unusual to see Bill's friends around town from time to time. They did live here, after all. Seeing them in the day time though... that was a little stranger. Dipper almost never saw any of Bill's friends and when he did, it was almost exclusively at night.

  
Dipper's heart sped up. All week he'd been trying to get a hold of one of Bill's friends. This could be his lead!   
There was no way Dipper was going to be able to get away from his family to talk to him without them either following him or getting suspicious. Dipper watched the man round the corner and his mind raced, thinking of ways to get away from his family. Even for a few minutes.

  
"I'll be right back!" Dipper exclaimed, standing up from the table, trying not to seem like he was in a rush. 

  
"What, are you going for a walk?" Stan snorted, looking up at Dipper.

  
"No, I'm going to the bathroom." Dipper huffed, "I'll be back in a minute." He rushed off to the bathroom, glancing at the small window in there. It would be a tight fit, but Dipper was pretty sure he would be able to get in and out of it pretty easily and it wasn't too high up either. 

Dipper opened up the window and managed to wiggle out, landing in the small alley between the diner and the building next door. Taking only a second to get his bearings before he sprinted in the direction he saw Eight Ball go. It was a minute be fore he managed to find him, walking up the road in the distance. 

  
Dipper checked his watch, not wanting to take too long, so his family wouldn't get suspicious. It was pretty easy to catch up to the man, considering his leisurely pace.  
"Hey!" Dipper called after the man, who didn't seem to notice. With a soft growl of irritation, Dipper jogged up to him, reaching his hand out and grabbing Eight Ball by the arm, "Hey!"

  
Eight Ball jerked away from Dipper's touch, as if he was burned then looked down at the smaller figure, raising an eyebrow.

  
"You're Bill's friend, right?" Dipper already knew the answer, but he wasn't sure how to approach the subject.

  
"Was." Eight Ball gave the clipped answer and resumed walking, obviously trying to ignore Dipper. 

  
That wasn't about to fly by with Dipper. He was here for answers. He jogged ahead of the man, cutting him off.

  
"Was?" Dipper questioned, "Look, I know it's not really my business, but I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Do you know anything at all?"

  
There was a irritated sigh from Eight Ball, "I don't know what happened to Bill. I have no idea where he went or why. All I can tell you is that a couple of days after you broke up with him, he went off the deep end again. Then about a week before he disappeared, he cut everyone off. I heard him talking to someone on the phone, don't know who, but he was saying something about some kind of deal being called off. No idea who was on the other end of the line, but even I could hear them yelling at Bill from the next room." 

  
"So you think maybe that person could have something to do with it?" Dipper probed a bit, feeling his heart speed up at the prospect of finally having a lead. 

  
"Look kid, you haven't known Bill for as long as I have. You should count your blessings that you got out when you did. Bill got up to some bad stuff and got in with a lot of bad people. Not your typical bad guys either. This is some next level shit and you're better off staying out of it." Eight Ball made it clear that this was the end of the conversation, as he all but shoved Dipper out of his path and continued on down the road.

  
"Damn it." Dipper cursed under his breath, glancing down at his watch before sprinting back to the diner. He'd been gone for about ten minutes. That was a normal amount of time to spend in the bathroom, right?

  
It was a bit harder to wiggle back in through the window then it was going out, but Dipper managed to do it. He stood there a minute longer, waiting to catch his breath before emerging and heading back to the table. 

  
"Jeeze kid, I was starting to think you fell in!" Stan quipped as Dipper took his seat, only giving an eyeroll in response. Everyone had already ordered their food while Dipper was gone and Mabel just ordered what he usually got for him. 

The whole family outing ending up lasting for a couple of hours. After the diner, Mabel insisted on heading over to Wendy and Tambry's shared apartment so she could see the cat that Wendy had rescued. When Robbie and the rest of the gang ended up being there, it turned into a full blown party. Mabel talked to everyone about everything and all Dipper could think about was what Eight Ball had said to him. 

  
Finally getting home was blessing. Ford was the only one that hadn't accepted any alcohol. Even though Dipper and Mabel weren't technically allowed to drink, Stan and Ford pretend to not know. 

  
Ford dropped Dipper off last. Which seemed weird, since he lived closer then everyone else and dropping Stan off before taking Dipper home was strange considering Ford lived with him. Then Dipper though that maybe Ford had some errands to run. Besides, Ford was always doing weird stuff. 

  
"Thanks for dropping me off, Ford." Dipper reached for the handle to open the door, but Ford placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

  
"Dipper, I wanted to ask you about something." Ford's expression didn't betray anything of what he was thinking or how he was feeling and his voice stayed perfectly even.   
Dipper hated when he did that. A feeling of coldness washed over him as he was sure that Ford was about to call him out for leaving at lunch today. 

  
"I know that you recently went and collected a lot of Bill's stuff from his place. I was informed by him a long time ago that he was going to leave a letter for me." Ford explained, his tone still staying composed. 

  
Dipper had almost forgotten about Ford's letter and he stared at his uncle for a moment before finding his words.   
"Oh! Yeah, I did find something with your name on it. I can go grab it for you."  Opening the door, Dipper told Ford he'd be right back before hurrying up to his door, opening it and going to the office to retrieve the letter. Once it was in his hands, he stared at the tiny tear in the corner where he was about to open it. Again, Dipper's curiosity was peaked, but there was no way he was going to get away with opening it now.

  
With a sigh he headed downstairs, letter in hand. Maybe Ford would just tell him what it said. Probably not though. Ford liked keeping his secrets, whatever they may be. Just as Dipper arrived back at his front door and was about to head back outside he remembered something that made his heart stop. 

  
When he got here his door was unlocked and he definitely locked it before he left.

  
There was the soft sound of fabric rustling and then something sharp was pressed against Dipper's back.   
"Give your uncle his letter come back and lock the door. Don't alert him in anyway or you and your family will pay dearly for it. Trust me when I say I'll know if you do." A voice growled out from behind him and Dipper nodded once.

  
Dipper let out a shaky breath and tried to look back at his assailant, only to have his head shoved forward. With a shaky hand, Dipper opened the door, stepping out and walking over to Ford. 

  
"Uh, sorry I didn't remember about it earlier." Dipper handed the letter to Ford, hoping his hand was shaking too much and that his voice sounded at least somewhat normal.   
"You okay, kid?" Ford questioned, accepting the letter and putting it in his glove box. 

  
"Yeah, I just..." Dipper was really considering just tell Ford and hoping nothing bad happened, but he couldn't potentially put his family in danger like that. "I dunno, I've had a lot on my mind lately." 

  
Ford nodded, "Well I'm free to talk anytime, kiddo." There was something in his Ford's eyes that Dipper couldn't quite place, but he really didn't have the mental space to think about that right now. 

  
"I know. I'll call you later this week or something when I figure things out." Dipper assured, surprised at his own composure.

  
After saying their goodbyes, Dipper walked back to his apartment, knowing that something bad was literally seconds from happening. He closed the door behind him and locked it. It was only a second after the deadbolt was latched that he was shoved back against the door, face smashed against the wood by a hand holding him in place. 

  
"You're going to tell me where Bill Cipher is." The person behind him obviously had no problem with getting uncomfortably close to strangers, because he was basically pressed right up against Dipper. 

  
"I don't where he is." It was hard to speak with his cheek pressed against the door, but he doubted this guy cared. 

  
"You have to know something." The way this guy's voice sounded seemed very strange to Dipper. Almost like a second voice was repeating everything he said just a half a second slower. Maybe it was just the fear and adrenaline. 

  
"I don't. All he left me were some letters and they don't say anything about where he might have gone." Apparently, Dipper's attacker didn't like that answer, if the way he all but threw Dipper to the ground was anything to go by. 

  
"Then you're useless to me." The man's voice was cold and Dipper closed his eyes, just hoping that he wasn't going to kill him. "If Bill won't show himself, then made I have to force his hand." 

  
Dipper opened his eyes and nearly screamed when a shadowy face was just mere inches away from his.   
"You're lucky that you mean something to Bill or you'd be dead right now." The man's face was mostly shaded by a dark hood, but Dipper could make out a wicked grin, "Don't get your hopes up though. All that means is that you'll be dead later." With that, the man walked to the door. The locks slowly turned and unlocked, seemingly of their own accord. 

  
After the stranger departed, leaving the door wide open, Dipper just sat on the floor for a minute as he processed what just happened.   
How did that guy make the door open like that? How did he know Bill and why did he need to find him? Did that mean Bill was still alive? And why the hell did that guy come after Dipper?There were a lot of questions going through Dipper's head as he finally got to his feet and shuffled over to close the door. Locking it again, even though it clearly didn't matter all that much. 

  
It was hard to decide what to do from this point. Obviously, finding Bill was going to be a lot harder and a lot more dangerous then expected. It's not like he couldn't just stop looking, because he could and it was probably what any smart person would do. 

  
But Bill always did make fun of him for being dumb. Dipper supposed that Bill wasn't completely wrong about that. There was no way Dipper was about to give up now. Though now that things were starting to get a little risky, he had to be more careful about involving Mabel and the rest of his family. 

  
Ford was a whole other deal that Dipper had forgotten about for those last fifteen minutes. Not that anyone would blame him if they saw what happened. It was kind of hard to focus on anything other then the creepy guy that broke into his house and shoved him against his door. 

  
Between the letter to his uncle, what Eight Ball told him, and the aggressive stranger, Dipper had a lot to think about and his mind had no idea where to start. 

  
Start from the beginning. Right. 

  
Dipper went to the office, grabbed the letters, a notebook from his desk and a pen. At the table, Dipper spread everything out and started making a timeline.  
Ford told him that Bill said there was a letter from him and that had to have been when Dipper and Bill were still dating. When else would have Ford gotten the chance to talk with Bill? So all the events that lead up to this point had to have started when Bill and Dipper were still together. 

  
Dipper thought back on the last month that he and Bill were together. Maybe there was something that happened while they were together that Dipper didn't notice because he didn't know to look out for it.

  
Biting his lip in concentration, Dipper tried to remember everything that Bill said to him that seemed weird at the time, which was quite a task, because Bill said and did a lot of weird shit. 

  
One instance did sort of stick out though. Something that Dipper brushed off as a bad day. The harder Dipper thought on it though, the stranger it seemed...

 

_Dipper was laying on the couch, sick and piled in blankets, head resting on Bill's lap as they watch some ridiculous movie that Bill insisted would make Dipper feel better. It was almost half way through when there was a knock at Dipper's apartment door._  
_"Ugh." Dipper lifted his head and craned it to looked towards the door, not noticing how tense Bill got at the sound of another knock. Dipper started to get up, but Bill shoved him back onto the couch._  
_"Stay. I'll get it." Bill all but stormed off to the door, leaving behind a very confused Dipper._  
_Dipper sat up a bit, trying to see who it was, but when Bill opened the door, he stepped out instead of letting whoever it was in. Dipper thought it might be one of Bill's friends, as they have been known to come by Dipper's place in search of Bill. That always pissed Bill off for some reason. Dipper never minded much though._  
_Bill's voice was muffled through the door and the fact that Dipper could even hear him let Dipper know that Bill was raising his voice. It had to be one of his friends. With a sigh, Dipper paused the movie and strained to listen closer to what was being said, but Bill was already coming back in through the door, looking nearly enraged. He was mumbling under his breath about something._  
_"You okay?" Dipper questioned, raising an eyebrow at the other._  
_"Does it look like I'm okay?" Bill snapped and stormed into the kitchen, which earned an eyeroll from Dipper._  
_"Jeeze." Dipper sat back against the couch and sneezed three times in rapid secession. Dipper always hated how Bill refused to tell him about things that were going on in his life, but he also knew that some things were just between a few people._  
_Not even two minutes later Bill was back on the couch, begging Dipper to not be mad at him. It was really hard to stay mad at the man that ordered you Chinese food and gave you neck kisses and cuddled you all morning. So Dipper didn't feel that guilty about giving in to Bill so easily._

 

The strange part about the whole memory was that a few hours later, when Bill thought Dipper was asleep, there was another knock at the door and although Dipper didn't see who it was, Bill let them inside his apartment. Which he never does unless it's one of Dipper's friends or family. 

  
At first that's what he thought until he heard the raspy voice talking in hushed whispers to Bill. At the time, Dipper assumed it was the same friend of Bill's, come to work out whatever problem they had before. 

  
Now Dipper thinks that there might be more to the story. There always seemed to be more to the story with Bill. Dipper just needed to figure out how much more there was.   
The best place to start was starting to seem like the letter Bill wrote to Ford. So tomorrow, Dipper was going over to the Shack and he was going to see that letter. Someone had to know what happened and Dipper was sure that Ford was a good person to start with. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think and if you catch any mistakes! I'm always a slut for constructive criticism.


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